Padron 1964 Anniversary Maduro – Cigar review and pairing

Recently a reader sent me an email asking me to do a review on a few different cigars, one of them being the Padron 1964 Anniversary Maduro. We have also had several readers ask for reviews with drink pairings. In the spirit of killing two birds with one stone I decided to pair up a 1964 Anniversary Maduro with a Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout.

About the Beer: Goose Island is a brewery in Chicago, IL. They first opened their doors in 1988 when craft brewing was in its infancy. The key to Goose Island’s success was building interest in craft brews during a time when mass produced beers were not only seen as standard but perceived as the only option and defined what beer was. Today Goose Island continues to brew an innovative selection of over 50 craft beers at the brewpub, the best of which are then bottled at the Fulton Street brewery. Goose Island beers are now enjoyed in 26 states and Europe. You can find out more about Goose Island, and use their nifty beer finder, here.

The label of the Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout describes the brew reading:

Everyday Goose Island smells the wonderful coffee roasting next to our brewery at Chicago’s Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea. This world class roaster puts the same passion and skill into their coffee as Goose Island does with its beer. This excellent stout is made with a different coffee from our friends next door each year. With the change in coffee comes a change in the flavor profile, making each release truly unique from the previous years.

Padron Cigars has been in business since 1964, and is a brand consistently associated with high quality. Their goal is to create cigars worthy of special times. Their mission statement is:

With over forty-six years to create a perfect cigar and more than 100 years to create a perfect legacy the Padron Family understands the significance of time. We deliver only the finest, handmade, complex cigars with the flavor of the Cuban heritage out of which the Padron recipe was born. Our primary mission is the exceptional quality of our product, not the quantity produced.

As a vertically integrated, family-owned company, we pay personal attention to every detail throughout all steps of our tobacco growing and cigar manufacturing process. Because we strive to give you, the smoker, the confidence that each cigar is the same. . . Perfect.

The Padron 1964 Anniversary Series line was introduced in 1994 to commemorate Padron’s 30th anniversary. There are ten sizes in the line all available in either sun-grown natural, or maduro wrappers. All tobaccos used are aged for four years, creating a smooth and complex flavor. You can check out Padron’s website here. Padron is the only company on our site to have garnered a 100 rating. Barry reviewed the Principe and you can check it out here.

Construction and Appearance: The Padron 1964 Anniversary Maduro has a beautiful milk chocolate colored wrapper. It has a light oil shine, and very small veins, that are almost unnoticeable. The Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout has a dark amber pour, and sits midnight black in the glass. It pours with no head whatsoever, and is designed to be served around 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

Flavor and Notes: The wrapper of the 1964 Anniversary Maduro has a light sweet cocoa scent. The foot has a sweet cocoa scent, combined with notes of hay and oak. The cold draw has notes of bittersweet chocolate, and oak. The Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout has a rich deep coffee scent.

Smoking and drinking experience: The first third of the 1964 Anniversary Maduro is loaded with flavor. There are notes of cocoa, coffee, oak, hay, and nuts. On the palate between draws the cocoa flavor remains, along with some oak spice, and a rich blend of spices. The Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout pairs wonderfully with the 1964 Anniversary Maduro. The coffee and oak flavors blend perfectly. The Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout also has a wonderful vanilla flavor that blends smoothly with the notes of cocoa from the 1964 Anniversary Maduro. The burn and draw of the 1964 Anniversary Maduro is excellent. Each draw produces a surprisingly full volume of smoke for a 46 ring gauge cigar. The smoke is cool, rich, and sweet.

During the second third of the 1964 Anniversary Maduro the flavors remain very consistent to the first. This is hardly a complaint, the flavors are excellent and well blended, I can’t get enough. The flavor still pairs fantastically with the beer, the slightly bittersweet cocoa flavors are working well with the slight bitterness of the stout. The oak and coffee flavors meld together in perfect harmony. The vanilla combine with the cocoa to create a delicious blend. I’d place the strength of the cigar at medium. The stout’s strength however comes in much higher, sitting at 14% abv, it is stronger than most wines, and between the cigar and the beer, a calmness is settling over me.

Into the final third the 1964 Anniversary Maduro has still remained mostly consistent. The subtle spices have developed and become more pronounced. Aside from that the flavor has remained the same. The flavor is so rich, complex, and well blended and entirely enjoyable. The consistency in flavor has also ensured that the pairing with the beer would remain so enjoyable. The burn and draw on the 1964 Anniversary Maduro are still perfect. Smoking down to the nub the cocoa flavors seem to ease off, replaced by pronounced notes of toast, and coffee giving the cigar an enjoyable finish. The Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout is also excellent to the last drop.

Conclusion: The pairing was a huge success, the flavors worked perfectly together, blending with each other, and playing off each others strengths. The Padron 1964 Anniversary is a phenomenal cigar, if you haven’t tried one yet, you really have to. It is one stick you cannot go wrong with. The construction is excellent and it is consistently highly rated. The Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout likewise is simply amazing, one of the best imperial stouts I’ve tried to date. If you are lucky enough to have a place in your area that carries Goose Island craft brews you have to try one.

It sounds like you had a fantastic afternoon. I like Goose Island a lot, they sell it around here. I will have to pick some up. I just smoked a 64 on Monday and I agree with everything you said. One of the best cigars I have smoke in a long time.This pairing sounds perfect.

Oh god yes it was a great afternoon. And yeah Goose Island makes some great stuff, as far as craft brews go I'd rank them very highly, but a bit pricey. Another good pairing for this would be the Great Divide Yeti espresso stout. If you haven't tried Great Divide check them out.